Learn To Play Poker

So you're new to Texas Hold'Em poker? Not a problem. Texas Hold 'Em poker is by far the best game for a beginner to learn. Instead of other poker games like Omaha High or 7 card stud which entail a great many more possibilities for calculating odds and perhaps even trying to count cards, Hold'Em can be learned in a few minutes by anyone, and you can be playing fairly well with a few hours practice. In order to learn the game, however, you must play and you must play fairly often.

1 - Playing on the flop

2 - Starting hands

3 - Position

4 - Hand rankings

5 - Odds

6 - More odds

7 - More about position

8 - Bluffing

9 - Pre flop strategy

10 - Who to play

11 - Successful betting

Playing on the Flop

The flop is the most important part of the hand. This is where you'll find out whether your hand has a shot at winning or not. Many poker novices lose money by playing after the flop with hands that have little or no chance of winning. Regardless of what your starting hand is, the flop will either give you the best hand (or close to it), a good chance at a winning hand, or nothing at all. Even with a strong starting hand, if the flop doesn't hit you at least once and the board offers the possibility of a better hand for someone else, you should consider folding. Even with tight starting hand selection, more often than not, the flop will be unfavorable to you.

The chart below illustrates the possibilities where you can continue playing on the flop. The information on this chart was derived from Lee Jones' Winning Low Limit Hold'em. If you're new to Hold'em, this book is strongly recommended. Jones gives you a complete strategy for low-limit hold'em, and explains the finer points of playing these hands, as well as more advanced strategies such as the free card play and the check-raise. You can use the chart below as a cheat sheet or a supplement to the book when you're playing online. Note that these are guidelines for playing these hands. The circumstances at your particular table and one's personal experience may require a different strategy. Many of the circumstances listed below assume that you have the correct pot odds to call.

If you've flopped.	Possible actions
Overcards	Check and fold . Call if you have a backdoor draw and high pot odds.
Top Pair with High Kicker	Bet and raise . If re-raised, raise again if you think you have the best hand, otherwise call.
Top Pair with Poor Kicker	Fold if there's much action. If you're first or last to act, bet or raise if you think everyone else will fold.
Middle or Bottom Pair	Check and fold . Call if you have an overcard and/or a backdoor draw with high pot odds.
Two Pair	Bet and raise . If re-raised, raise again if you have top two pair. Otherwise, call.
Pair on the Board	Fold if your pair is lower, or there's much action. In late position, bet when it's checked to you if you think everyone will fold.
Three of a Kind (Set)	Raise and re-raise , unless you are certain (or uncertain) that you have the best hand.
Three of a Kind (Pair on Board)	Bet and raise . Call if someone else re-raises, unless you have a high kicker.
Inside Straight Draw	Bet or call if you have favorable pot odds, or two overcards and/or multiple draws. Fold if the board is paired, or if there are three suited cards on the board.
Open-ended Straight Draw	Bet or raise if you have the nut draw. Call if the board is paired, or if there are two suited cards on the board. Fold if there are three suited cards on the board.
Flush Draw	Bet or raise if you have an ace high draw, otherwise call.
Straight	Raise and re-raise . Slow play if an ace high straight.
Flush	Raise and re-raise. Slow play if an ace high flush.
Full House	Slow play if your set is the higher rank. Bet and raise if your set is the lower rank, or you don't have the pocket pair.
Four of a Kind or Straight Flush	Slow play if you have the nuts, otherwise bet and raise.

If you play your hand appropriately on the flop, you still have to watch the turn and river cards to see if one of your opponents have possibly improved. If you believe you still have the best hand, or your hand has improved, continue to bet and raise with it. Otherwise, just check or call. If you're playing a pair or two pair, and an overcard to your pair comes on the turn and there is a raise, it's possible you may be beaten. If you're playing a straight draw, and the third card to a flush falls on the turn, folding is a wise idea. If the board pairs on the turn or river, proceed with caution. One of your opponents may have landed trips or a full house.

Starting Hand Strategy - The Importance of Position

One's position at the table in relation to the "dealer" is an important strategical factor in Texas Hold'em. The players sitting to the left of the dealer, including the blinds, are in early position. Early position puts the player at a disadvantage, because the player cannot observe how his opponents will act before playing his hand. An early position player who calls or bets on a weak hand may find themselves faced with a raise by another player, making it more expensive to play on with that hand. If the raiser does indeed have a strong hand, the early position player is likely beat and has wasted their bet. An early position player with a strong hand will find it harder to increase the pot by raising, unless other players raise after him.

The players sitting to the right of the dealer, including the dealer himself, are in late position. Late position gives the player a strategic advantage, since the player can observe how his opponents act before playing his hand. The dealer is in the strongest position ("on the button") because they have the advantage of acting last. A late position player can decide to play a weak hand if there have been no bets or raises before him. A late position player with a strong hand has more opportunity to increase the size of the pot by betting or raising. Late position gives the player an information advantage. By observing how the other players bet their hand, the late position player can make an informed decision on how to play their hand. Consideration on whether to play a certain starting hand (see below) is based mostly on one's position at the table. A strong hand can be played in any position, while a weaker or marginal hand should only be played in later position, when the player can decide if their hand has a chance of winning against the other players.

Starting Hands

An important part of mastering Texas Hold'em is learning which starting hands are most playable, and in what position. Every book on Texas Hold'em goes in-depth on starting hands and their rankings.

There are 169 possible starting hands in Texas Hold'em, and at least half are considered to be unplayable. The following list is an easy to read guide as to which hands have the potential to be played. Unlike other starting hand lists, this list does not rank each individual hand by strength, although the list is organized roughly from the strongest hands to the weakest. This list merely serves as a guide as to which hands have the potential to be played, and in what position. Players are strongly encouraged to consult other sources to learn more about starting hand rankings and strategy.

This list is appropriate for situations that require tight play. At most low limit tables, you can shade these hand requirements down a bit and play a bit looser, but you shouldn't call with hands that are not on this list. Approximately half of the 169 starting hands are on this list, and all of them statistically have at least a 10% chance of winning at a ten-handed table. The hands listed in bold comprise the top 10 hands, and can be raised and re-raised in any position. The hands listed in blue can be called in early position, and raised in middle and late position. The hands listed in red can be called in middle or late position. The hands listed in black should be called in late position only.

Playable Starting Hands

A = Ace, K = King, Q = Queen, J = Jack, T = Ten, 2-9 = Card value, x = Unknown card, s = Same suit

Any Pair - These have high pair, trips (set), full house, or four of a kind possibilities. Raise and reraise with high pairs.

AA, KK, QQ, JJ , TT, 99, 88 , 77, 66, 55, 44, 33, 22

A x , K x , Q x, J x, and T x Suited - These have high pair, trips, flush, straight and straight flush possibilities. Any Ace, King or Queen suited can be played for flush possibilities, depending on position.

AKs, AQs, AJs , ATs, A9s, A8s, A7s, A6s, A5s, A4s, A3s, A2s
KQs, KJs , KTs , K9s, K8s, K7s , K6s, K5s, K4s, K3s, K2s
QJs, QTs , Q9s, Q8s , Q7s, Q6s, Q5s, Q4s, Q3s, Q2s
JTs , J9s, J8s . J7s, J6s, J5s
T9s, T8s , T7s, T6s

A x , K x , Q x , J x , T x Unsuited - These have high pair or straight possibilities. Only play unsuited cards with a combined value of 21 or higher.

AK , AQ , AJ, AT , A9
KQ , KJ, KT , K9
QJ, QT , Q9
JT , J9
T9

9 x and Lower Suited - Two suited cards that are consecutive (suited connectors) or one-gapped can potentially be played. These have mostly flush or straight possibilities.

98s , 97s, 96s
87s , 86s, 85s
76s, 75s
65s, 64s
54s, 53s
43s

Bold = Raise and reraise. Yellow = Call early, raise middle and late. Orange = Call middle and late. White = Call late only.

Any starting hand that is not listed above should be folded. You should expect to fold before the flop at least half of the time. Playing strong hands, depending on position and situation, will increase your winnings and curtail your losses in the long run. Patience is key when it comes to winning in Texas Hold'em. But keep in mind that any starting hand can be beaten. A strong starting hand increases your chances of drawing to a winning hand, but be prepared to fold if your hand does not improve and another player is representing a better hand.

Hold'em Strategy - Position

Your position at the table is simply your position in relation to the dealer. The dealer is at the most advantageous position, as he/she gets to see how all the players at the table react before making their own decision.

The person to the left of the dealer is not only the small blind, but must act first after the flop.

The person to the left of the small blind is the big blind. This person is already obligated to the game and is in another early position.

The person to the left of the big blind acts first before board cards are dealt. This is often referred to as "being under the gun". The clockwise motion of play allows those who act later (in late position) to be at an advantage. As a result, those in late position can play weaker hands or "gambling hands" with less fear of financial obligation or loss.

The blind positions and the player under the gun (early positions) must be more selective with their hands, as they don't have the privilege of watching other players betting/raising before they must decide if they want to stay in themselves.

For example, lets say you're under the gun (first to act). You have Jack-Ten, unsuited. The player to bet after you raises, and everyone but you folds.. Now you're in a jam. Chances are good that this player has a better hand than you, with at least an ace or a pocket pair. Unfortunately, you've already bet, because you had no idea or no way to tell what other players at the table had in the pocket.

In addition, you will always, throughout the game, be acting before this player. This positional advantage will continue throughout this hand.

On the other hand, being in the dealers position not only gives you the benefits of observing how the other players are betting, but it also gives you the ability to adjust the size of the pot. After all other players have bet, a raise by the player in the dealers position could potentially double the size of the pot (assuming no one folds). Since the players have already committed to one bet, its easier to commit to a second (or a third or fourth!).

An Explanation of Hold 'Em Odds - Part 1 of 4

Probability is a huge factor in texas hold 'em. Players use odds to determine their actions. The chances of finishing a flush or a straight, the probablity of getting an overcard, the percentage of times you're going to flop a set to match your pocket pair are all important factors in poker. Knowledge of these statistics is key to winning. In online games especially with very few (if any) tells, statistical knowledge becomes the main factor when choosing whether to bet, call, or fold.

Here are some terms that you'll hear on this site and whenever you're talking about poker odds...
Outs The number of cards left in the deck that will improve your hand.
"I had four hearts on the turn, so I had only 9 outs left to finish that flush."
Pot Odds The odds you get when analyzing the current size of the pot vs. your next call.
"There's $200 already in the pot, and only another $10 bet coming at me, so my pot odds are good if I hit that flush."
Bet Odds The odds you get as a result of evaluating the number of callers to a raise. "With a 1 in 5 chance of hitting it, and knowing all six of these guys are gonna call my bet, my bet odds are good too."
Implied Odds The odds you are getting after the assumed result of betting for the remainder of the hand. "Since I think these guys are going to call on the turn and river, my implied odds are excellent."

In Texas Hold 'Em, you commonly use outs and pot odds the most. This is also the starting point for those who want to learn about poker odds. To those out there who "ain't good at countin' much", you better get good because that is how it's done. At this point it's only simple division The numerator will be the number of outs you have. The denominator is the number of cards left that we haven't seen. The result will be the percentage chance of making one of those outs. Therefore, the most math you'll be doing will be dividing small numbers by 50 (pre-flop), 47 (after the flop), or 46 (after the turn). Click here for a series of examples on this.

Before we move on, I must clarify one thing. A lot of you might wonder why we never factor the opponents' cards or the burn cards when figuring out how many cards are left. The reason is that we only consider "unseen cards". If you saw what the burn cards were, or an opponent showed you his hand, you would know that those cards are not going to be drawn and could use that. We typically do not know what they have, so we don't even think about it when talking about odds. For instance, take a standard deck of 52 cards, remove 2 Aces and burn 25 of them. If you drew the next card, what are the chances of it being an Ace? It would be 2/50 (2 Aces left out of 50 unseen cards). It would NOT be 2/25 just because you burned half the deck. Okay, do the same thing again, but this time you get to look at the burn cards. Let's say that of all the cards you burned, none were an ace. Now your odds are 2/25 because there are still 2 Aces and now only 25 "unseen cards".

By that same reasoning, let's play a game of draw poker where you get 5 cards as usual, but your opponent gets 40. Say you got Ace, King, Queen, Jack all of Spades!, and a Four of Clubs. You get to ditch the Four and draw one from the remaining pile of 7 cards. What are your chances of getting that Ten of Spades? Assuming you don't get to see your opponents hand, your chances of drawing that card would be 1 in 47 (1 Ten of Spades in the deck, 47 "unseen cards"). It would NOT be 1 in 7. Let's say your opponent goes to the bathroom, and you cheat and look at his hand while he's on the crapper. If he doesn't have that Ten of Spades, that would be 1 in 7. If he did, well...it'd be 0 in 7.

Pot odds are as easy as computing outs. You compare your outs or your chance of winning to the size of the pot. If your chance of winning is significantly better than the ratio of the pot size to a bet, then you have good pot odds. If it's lower, then you have bad pot odds. For example, say you are in a $5/$10 holdem game with Jack-Ten facing one opponent on the turn. You have an outside straight draw with a board of 2-5-9-Q, and only the river card left to make it. Any 8 or any King will finish this straight for you, so you have 8 outs (four 8's and 4 K's left in the deck) and 46 unseen cards left. 8/46 is almost the same as a 1 in 6 chance of making it. Your sole opponent bets $10. You if you take a $10 bet you could win $200. $200/$10 is 20, so you stand to make 20x more if you call. 1/6 higher than 1/20, so pot odds say that calling wouldn't be a bad idea.

Another clarification...a lot of players want to somehow factor in money they wagered on previous rounds. With the last example, you probably had already invested a significant portion of that $200 pot. Let's say $50. Does that mean you should play or fold because of that money you already have in there? $50/$200? That's a big no. That's not your money anymore! It's in a pool of money to be given to the winner. You have no "stake" in that pot. The only stake you might have is totally mental and has no bearing on hard statistics.

The next step is to use bet odds and implied odds. That's tougher, because it involves predicting reactions of other players. With bet odds, you try to factor in how many people are going to call a raise. With implied odds, you're thinking about reactions for the rest of the game. One last example on implied odds...

Say it's another $5/$10 holdem game and you have a four flush on the flop. Your neighbor bets, and everyone else folds. The pot is $50 at this point. First you figure out your chance of hitting your flush on the turn, and it comes out to about 19.1% (about 1 in 5). You have to call this $5 bet vs a $50 pot, so that's a 10x payout. 1/5 is higher than 1/10, so bet odds are okay, but you must consider that this guy's going to bet into you on the turn and river also. That's the $5 plus two more $10 bets. So now your facing $25 more till the end of the hand. So you have to consider your chances of hitting that flush on the turn or river, which makes it about 35% (better than 1 in 3 now), but you have to invest $25 for a finishing pot of $100. $100/$25 is 1 in 4. That's pretty close. But there's more!... if you don't make it on the turn, it'll change your outs and odds! You'll have a 19.6% chance of hitting the flush (little worse than 1 in 5), but a $20 investment for a finishing pot of $100! $100/$20 is 1 in 5. So the chances would take a nasty turn if you didn't hit it! What's makes it more complicated is that if you did hit it on the turn, you could raise him back, and get an extra $20 or maybe even $40 in the pot.

I'll let it go at that, as once you've mastered simple outs and pot odds, bet and implied odds are just a longer extension of these equations. If you sit and think about these things while you play, it'll come to you eventually without any tutoring. Good luck!

Odds - Part 2 of 4

The Easy Example: A pocket pair
You start with a pair of Jacks in the pocket. Not too shabby. The flop however, doesn't contain another Jack.

Lesson 1 : What's my chance of getting a Jack on the turn?
You need to just figure out the number of outs and divide it by the number of cards in the deck. There's 2 more Jacks. There's 47 more cards since you've seen five already. The answer is 2/47, or .0426, close to 4.3%.

Lesson 2 : No luck on the turn, how 'bout the river?
Still 2 Jacks left, but one less card in the deck bringing the grand total to 46. What's 2/46? That's .0434, which is also close to 4.3% Your chances didn't change much.

Lesson 3 : Screw getting just one Jack! I want them both! What are my chances?!
Since we're trying to figure out the chances of getting one on the turn AND the river, and not getting one on EITHER the turn or river, we don't have to reverse our thinking. Just multiply the probability of each event happening. Chances of getting that first Jack on the turn was .0426, remember? The chance of getting a second Jack on the river would be 1/46, because there'll only be one Jack left in the deck. That's about .0217, or 2.2%. To get the answer, multiply 'em. .0426 X .0217 is about .0009! That's around one-tenth of a percent. I wouldn't bank on that one.

Lesson 4 : Hey, what were my chances of getting a pair of Jacks anyway?
To figure that out, think of it as getting dealt one card, then another. What are your chances of the second card matching the first one? There will be 3 cards left like the one you have. There's 51 cards left in the deck. 3/51 is .059 or 5.9%. What the chance that it'll be Jacks? Well, there's 13 different cards. So, .059/13 is about .0045, a little less than half a percent.

Lesson 5 : What were my chances of getting a Jack on the flop?
Now you do have to "think in reverse" as in the previous example. Figure out the chances of NOT getting a Jack on each successive card flip. First card you have a 48/50 chance (48 non-Jack cards left, 50 cards left in the deck), second card is 47/49, third card is 46/48. Those come out to .96, .959, and .958. Multiply them and get .882, or an 88.2% chance of NOT getting any Jacks on the flop. Invert it to figure out what your chances really are and you get .118 or 11.8%. This will be your chance to get one or two Jacks.

Odds - Part 3 of 4

Example #2 "The straight draw"
You start with a Jack of Spades and a Ten of Spades. You get a rainbow flop with a Queen of Spades, a Three of Diamonds, and a Nine of Clubs. You've got a straight draw.

Lesson 1 : What are my chances of hitting it on the next card?
Same as before, but with different outs. A King or an Eight will complete your hand. There are presumably four of each left in the deck. You've got 8 outs. The chance of getting one of them on the turn is 8 over 47, because there's 47 cards left in the deck. That comes out to about .170, or around 17%.

Lesson 2 : I didn't get it on the turn! What are my chances now!?
There's still 8 cards left in the deck that'll help you, but 46 cards left in the deck. That's 8 over 46. It changes to .174. It's improved to a whopping 17.4%!

Lesson 3 : I should of thought about my total chances first, I'm such an idiot. What are my chances of getting that card on the turn OR the river?
Once again we'll have to calculate the chances of a King or Eight NOT appearing, so we can do it like the last problem (in this case, {39/47} X {38/46}). Or, since we've already figured out our chances in the previous two lessons, we can just invert the probabilities and multiply 'em. You had a .170 chance on the turn, and a .174 on the river. By inverting, I mean subtracting them from one. Now we've got .830 and .826! Multiply and get .686! That's our chance of NOT hitting our card at all. So invert it again and get .314, or 31.4%.

Odds - Part 4 of 4

Example #3 "Top two pair"
You get dealt a King of Diamonds and a Nine of Hearts. The flop is lookin' pretty good for you with a King of Spades, a Nine of Clubs, and a Four of Clubs. Top two pair!

Lesson 1 : What are my chances of getting a full house on the turn?
To get a full house, you need another King or Nine to pop up. There are presumably two of each left in the deck. So you've got 4 outs. After the flop there's always 47 cards unaccounted for. 4/47 is around .085 or an 8.5% chance of you getting that boat.

Lesson 2: What are my chances of getting a full house on the river?
If it didn't happen on the turn, your chances usually don't change all too much, but let's check. You've still got 4 outs and now 46 unseen cards left. 4/46 is about .087 or around an 8.7% chance of hitting it on the river. A .2% difference. Sorry.

Lesson 3 : How about the chances of getting the boat on the turn OR the river?
Like the previous examples, to figure your chance of something happening on multiple events, you need to calculate the chance of it NOT happening first. On the turn it won't happen 43/47 times. On the river it won't happen 42/46 times. 43/47 is .915, and 42/46 is .913. Multiply them and get .835, or 83.5% chance of it not happening. Invert that and you get a 16.5% of getting at least a full house by the showdown.

Lesson 4 : What do you mean by "at least"?
Since we figured the chances to NOT get dealt a full house, the chances are built in if the turn and river are two Kings, two Nines, or a King and a Nine. If you are dealt two cards both of either King or Nine, it'll be four-of-a-kind and not a King and Nine 33% of the time. Think of it as being dealt one card then the other. What are the chances of the first card matching the second? Whether it's a King or Nine, there will be only one unaccounted for, but two of the other. That's 1/3, or 33%.

Lesson 5 : Then what are my chances of getting four-of-a-kind?
This is a little more abstract. I hope I warmed you up for this with the previous lesson.
It doesn't matter which card we're banking on. We need to first get a full house on the turn. According to lesson #1, the chance of that happening is .085. The chance of getting the same card we got on the turn is 1/46. There's only one out, and the usual 46 unseen cards. 1/46 is around .022, or 2.2%. Multiply the two probabilities (.022 X .085) and get .002 or one-fifth of a percent. It will be Kings half of the time and Nines the other half

A lot of info to soak up, right? Yeah, I know. If you really want to be a master of odds, you need to see all this in action, over and over. Like anything else, practice makes perfect.

Poker Odds

Hand	Number of Ways to Make Hand	Odds Against Being Dealt Hand in 5 Cards
Royal Flush	4	649,739/1
Straight Flush	36	72,192/1
Four of a Kind	624	4,164/1
Full House	3,744	693/1
Flush	5,108	508/1
Straight	10,200	254/1
Three of a Kind	54,912	46/1
Two Pair	123,552	20/1
One Pair	1,098,240	2.4/1
Highest Card	1,302,540	1/1
Total	2,598,960

Chances of Holding a Particular Hand or Better in First Five Cards Dealt
Any Pair or Better	1/2
Pair of Jacks or Better	1/5
Pair of Queens or Better	1/6
Pair of Kings or Better	1/7
Pair of Aces or Better	1/9
Two Pairs or Better	1/13
Three of a Kind or Better	1/35
Straight or Better	1/132
Flush or Better	1/273
Full House or Better	1/590
Four of a Kind or Better	1/3,914
Straight Flush or Better	1/64,974
Royal Flush	1/649,740

Hold'em Preflop Strategy - Position

Before dealing with the cards dealt a good understanding of what position you hold at the table is required, your position is of vital importance as to how you will play your hand. The later your position the better off you generally are.

The worst position is the blinds, they have committed money to the pot without even seeing their cards. They are not completely powerless however as they can raise when the betting gets around to them.

If there are some callers and no raisers it is not automatic for the Small Blind to bet the extra to see the flop. If he has terrible cards he is only throwing good money after bad and he is not the last player to act , the Big Blind can still raise.

The Big Blind, if there were no raises and the bet gets back to him has nothing to lose by staying in the hand even if he is playing poor cards, he gets a free look at the flop.

The other positions at the table are described by where they sit in relation to the big blind. Assuming a full 10 handed game the first three positions to the Big Blinds left can be called early position. In early position you need stronger cards than you do in the later or middle positions. In the middle position, which is the next 3 players after the three early position players, you can play somewhat weaker cards. The last two players are in the ideal position, th